Indian Navy Commissions First Domestically-Made Aircraft Carrier

NEW DELHI (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 02nd September, 2022) The Indian navy commissioned on Friday the first aircraft carrier built in the country and unveiled the new flag for its naval force.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the ceremony and personally commissioned the new aircraft carrier.

Along with the new aircraft carrier, Modi introduced a new flag for the Indian navy. It features the national flag of India, and a blue octagonal piece with the national coat of arms at anchor superimposed on a shield bearing the motto of the navy.

Previously, the navy used a flag that featured the cross of St. George, the national flag of England. The blue octagonal shape represents eight directions, symbolizing the Indian navy's multi-dimensional operational capabilities, the navy added.

The ship, which will become a floating airfield for 30 fighter planes and helicopters, is called Vikrant (means "courageous" in Sanskrit) in honor of the first Indian aircraft carrier received in 1961 from the United Kingdom.

The latter took part in Indo-Pakistani wars and served in the Indian Navy until 1997.

The aircraft carrier will be armed with MiG-29 fighters in the next five to seven years, after which they will be replaced by Indian-made aircraft. The aircraft carrier will become fully combat-ready only by mid-2023.

Currently, the Indian naval force has one aircraft carrier - the Soviet-made aircraft carrier cruiser INS Vikramaditya, which was called Baku in the Soviet navy, and Admiral Gorshkov in the Russian navy. The ship was decommissioned from the Russian navy in 1996 and purchased by India in 2004, after which it underwent a complete modernization in Russia under an Indian order from 2004-2013. The ship is the flagship of the Indian navy.